Tommy McDonald joined the Virginia Tech men’s tennis staff two years ago as a volunteer assistant coach. McDonald comes to the Hokies after serving for seven years as the men’s and women’s tennis coach at Arkansas-Little Rock.

McDonald is no stranger to the Tech men’s tennis program. He was an assistant at Virginia Tech for three seasons and helped the Hokies to the NCAA “Sweet Sixteen” in 1999 and to Atlantic 10 Conference titles in 1999 and 2000. Prior to Virginia Tech, McDonald spent two years on the International Tennis Federation’s ATP professional tour, competing throughout the U.S., Europe and Australia.

In seven seasons at UALR, McDonald built the Trojans into one of the most improved programs in the nation. After taking over a men’s team coming off a 9-13 season, he guided the program to a 18-6 record and a No. 70 national ranking. The women’s team improved from 13-12 to 17-11 during his first season.

McDonald compiled a 119-66 record with the men’s team and a 117-47 mark with women during his tenure. At UALR, he coached 10 nationally ranked players including Mariano Pettigrosso, who achieved a national ranking of No. 28, the highest ranking in the history of the program.

For his seven seasons at the helm of the tennis programs, McDonald’s teams had a 100 percent graduation rate for athletes who had exhausted their eligibility. The UALR men’s team was named an ITA All-Academic Team in six of McDonald’s seven years while his women’s team achieved the honor on five occasions. He had a total of 47 student-athletes named as ITA Scholar Athletes.

McDonald is currently employed by Davenport & Co. Investment Firm. He has been married to his wife, Roseann, for 11 years and they have a 7-year-old daughter, Savannah Jane, and a 4-year-old son, Charles Thomas.